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Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 Beta Expected in August

If a listing on GameStop Germany's website is accurate, gamers won't have to wait until October to get their hands on Call of Duty: Black Ops 4. According to the website's store listing, there will be a beta released for consoles and PC in August. While an exact date isn't listed, it's said that the multiplayer trial will last for three days, thus giving players plenty of time with Treyarch's latest first-person shooter.

This shouldn't come as much of a surprise, as Call of Duty has traditionally held a multiplayer beta in the lead-up to their yearly release. In the past, Activision has held private betas for those that pre-order the game at select retailers, and then opened it up to all players at a slightly later date. Not only does this help gamers decide if they're going to buy the shooter, but it also allows the developer to test their online servers and get some early feedback from fans.

According to Gamestop Germany (via Charlie Intel), the beta on consoles will be for those that pre-order Black Ops 4 on either PlayStation 4 or Xbox One. It's a different story on PC, though, as all players need to do is have a Battle.net account. That means all PC players will have a chance to check out the shooter in August, whether they pre-order the game or not.

Having an early beta for players to try out the latest Call of Duty title makes all the sense in the world. Not only has it been a successful way of drumming up interest and headlines in the past, but Activision has more fans on the fence than usual with Black Ops 4, due to how different the game is from previous entries and the fact that some found its reveal to be underwhelming. Not only will there not be a single-player campaign, but the multiplayer has taken some inspiration from Overwatch and Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege in order to become a more tactical experience.

What could differentiate the Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 beta from previous ones is if Activision decides to show off the new battle royale mode, Blackout. This new inclusion could very well be the make or break mode for the shooter, so letting fans get a taste of the survival mode would certainly generate headlines prior to release. A great first impression is everything though, so if it's not ready by then it would make more sense to show off the traditional competitive multiplayer instead.